EGYPT-THE NEXT PRESIDENT? - With expectations high that he'll run for president, Egypt's military chief has been busy studying the details of the nation's most pressing problems and consulting with experts about possible solutions, two top officials said. UPCOMING: 1,200 words, photos by 2100 GMT.

EGYPT - An overwhelming majority of Egyptians who voted on the country's new constitution have backed the draft charter, a senior Egyptian official says. SENT: 580 words, photo

SOUTH SUDAN - Officials in South Sudan say the U.N. has gathered evidence that some victims of ethnic-based attacks have been bound and others beheaded. Victims have also told the AP that attackers have forced them to participate in sex acts with family members. SENT: 130 words. UPCOMING: 800 words by 1600 GMT.

INDIA-TOURIST RAPE - Indian police say they are closing in on six homeless men in the gang rape of a 51-year-old Danish tourist in New Delhi. SENT: 560 words, photos.

AFGHAN-FEMALE POLICE CHIEF - Col. Jamila Bayaz is the first woman to be promoted to run an entire district -- the highest front-line appointment for an Afghan policewoman. Policewomen are among the Taliban's top targets. UPCOMING: 650 words, photos by noon.

PAKISTAN - A police officer says six people have been killed in an explosion at a Sunni Islamic seminary in the northwestern city of Peshawar.

JORDAN-ISRAEL - Jordan's king called on visiting Netanyahu today to seize the moment and opportunity made possible under a U.S. diplomatic push to achieve a lasting and comprehensive settlement with the Palestinians, the Royal Palace said. SENT: 500 words, photo.

KOREAS-TENSION - North Korea has proposed that the rival Koreas halt all hostile military actions and stop vilifying each other, saying it would create a climate for better relations. SENT: 130 words.

CHINA-AIR POLLUTION - Beijing's skyscrapers recede into a dense gray smog as the capital experiences the season's first wave of extremely dangerous pollution, with the concentration of toxic small particles registering more than two dozen times the level considered safe. Many of the city's commuters wear industrial strength face masks. SENT: 390 words, photos.

HONG KONG-MAID ABUSE - Police are investigating allegations that a 23-year-old Indonesian maid was tortured by her employers, the latest case to provoke outrage over abuses suffered by the city's army of foreign domestic workers. SENT: 450 words, photos.

VIETNAM-COAL MINE ACCIDENT - Six workers are killed in a fire in an underground coal tunnel in northern Vietnam, an official says. One worker escapes with burns. SENT: 100 words.

NIGERIA-MILITARY - In a major shakeup of the high command of Nigeria's military which is battling Islamic insurgents, President Goodluck Jonathan fired all his service chiefs today and appointed an air force officer from the troubled northeast as the top military commander. SENT: 780 words, photo.

SPAIN-CATALONIA-INDEPENDENCE - A European season of separatist fervor kicks off Thursday with Catalan lawmakers voting on whether to seek the right to hold a referendum on independence from Spain. SENT: 1,080 words, photos.

OBAMA-NSA SURVEILLANCE -- A months-long White House review will culminate Friday with new recommendations aimed in part at restoring the public's trust in a surveillance apparatus expected to remain largely in place. UPCOMING, 600 words, by 2230 GMT. Photos.

SUPREME COURT-CELL PHONE SEARCH -- The Supreme Court decided 40 years ago that police don't need a search warrant to look through anything a person is carrying when arrested. But that was long before smartphones. In a new clash of technology and privacy, the court is being asked whether the old rules should still apply in the digital age. UPCOMING: 500 words by 2030 GMT.

BUDGET BATTLE - Drained of much of its vitriol over the budget, Congress is poised to adopt a $1.1 trillion package financing federal agencies this year. SENT: 200 words, photos.

US

OHIO EXECUTION - Dennis McGuire is running out of appeals ahead of his scheduled execution; Ohio plans to use a two-drug cocktail never before used in the U.S. to put someone to death. SENT: 360 words, photo. UPCOMING: updates from execution.

SURGEON GENERAL-SMOKING, HFR - Fifty years into the war on tobacco, smoking causes even more diseases than people originally thought. Worse, the nation isn't making fast enough progress against smoking, says a new report from the U.S. Surgeon General's office. UPCOMING: HOLD FOR RELEASE 0501 GMT.

NETHERLANDS-WORKING FOR BEER - The men are alcoholics and the beers themselves are the paycheck. In a pilot project that has drawn attention around the world, Amsterdam has teamed up with a charity organization in hopes of improving the neighborhood and possibly improving life for the alcoholics. SENT: 1,000 words, photos.

BUSINESS / ECONOMY

HIGHER AIRFARES - The cost of a domestic roundtrip ticket in the U.S. went up another 2 percent last year, bringing the average ticket price to $363.42 including tax. UPCOMING: 400 words by 1930 GMT, photo.

DAVOS FORUM - The gap between the rich and the poor is the most likely threat to the global economy in coming years, the World Economic Forum said today. SENT: 600 words, photo.

MONK BEER - Eight monasteries - six in Belgium and one each in Holland and Austria - produce the only beer recognized by the International Trappist Association as authentic Trappist beer. And starting Thursday, the 63 brothers of St. Joseph's Abbey - about an hour's drive west of Boston - will join them, selling the first Trappist beer brewed outside Europe. SENT: 850 words, photos, video.

ENTERTAINMENT

OSCAR NOMINATIONS - The Academy Awards appear to be the three-horse race many expected it would be, with "Gravity," ''American Hustle" and "12 Years a Slave" all receiving a heap of nominations. SENT: 520 word, photos. UPCOMING: Developing.